I am from Arizona, and having just recently moved to Portland, Oregon I am really digging on all this fall weather, it's wet, chilly, and cloudy! I LOVE IT! How nice it is to live in a place with seasons, where the leaves change colors, they have harvest festivals and it actually means someone is in fact harvesting something! How peculiar! The last three days it's been raining pretty much non stop so today I finally couldn't get warm, it must be something in my homegrown native Arizona skin, 50 degrees is just darn right chilly!

I needed to get warm, so I thought to myself... SOUP! Spicy soup, a veggie, and, uh hemmm, adult beverage. You might ask yourself, what was this amazing meal of warmth? I'll tell you, and yes it definitely provided the warm sensations as I ingested the beauty of curried butternut squash soup.


Menu Tonight: 

• Curried Butternut Squash Soup
• Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Apples and Bacon
• White Wine, St Germain Gin Martini - FABULOUS!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
The soup is wonderful, simple and smooth... please note that curry stains anything that is white, so beware when you're cooking that things may be permanent state of chartreuse'y yellow. Also curry is spicy, so adjust the recipe to meet your spice needs.

• 1 Tbsp of Olive oil
• 2 Shallots, diced
• ,Garlic Powder (1tsp)
• 1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 5 cups of vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 6 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 dashes of Paprika
• 2 dashes of cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoon honey
• Salt and pepper, to taste at the end

1. Heat the oil over medium heat and add the shallot. Cook until soft, but not brown.
2. Add wine and deglaze pan, add broth spices, honey, and butternut squash. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to slow boil
3. Cook for 15-20 minutes until butternut is soft, skim squash from pan and transfer to food processor, blend till smooth and add back to pan. Stir.
4. Serve with fat free Greek yogurt and top with salt and pepper, I didn't use a fried Sage leaf but I do think that would be a wonderful addition to the soup.


Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Apple, and Bacon
1 shallot diced
1lb of Brussel sprouts stems cut off, and halved
1 apple, peeled and diced
2 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch squares
1tbsp of olive oil or a good spray

• Combine all ingredients in a shallow roasting pan. Cook for 35 min in 400degree oven turning once. 

Brussel sprouts require time to roast and caramelize, patience is key to splendid goodness in these amazing veggies! Cooking them too long or too fast will only give you bitter, yucky results.



Blonde Bomb Barrage Martini
1oz white wine
1oz St Germain Elderflower Liquor
2oz Bombay Sapphire Gin
Lemon Twist

Combine all parts in a shaker and shake away till frosty on the outside, then transfer to a cooled Martini glass.

Portland, Oregon - Fall